Sunday, April 16, 2006

Flaws

Remember being 11? No? For me it was an age of awakening. A time when I first realized that grownups did not have all the answers and the world was filled with flaws. In my day, much of that first wave of cynicism was informed by the only honest publication willing to speak to young people about the wool adults were trying to pull over our eyes: Mad magazine.

Today, kids can thank the modern master of parody and sarcasm, Matt Groening, for shaping their world view with The Simpsons and Futurama.

Perhaps if I had been born in the internet age, I too would have found an outlet for my 11-year-old opinions in blogging. That's what my younger son, Simon, has done with his new blog, Everything Has A Flaw.

I'm no doubt biased but I find his writing very entertaining - and sort of retroactively enlightening in the sense that reading his opinions about the shortcomings in his kid's world reminds me of where my head was at when I was 11.

Go take a look and see if you don't feel the same way (I especially think you'll enjoy his thoughts on sleepovers) - oh! and do leave a comment - Simon loves to get feedback!

Thanks melinama! He will be thrilled about that. I wish I could show him how to send a feed but I must confess, i have no idea how to do so. But don't worry, I suspect it won't be long before he's rolling his eyes, sighing deeply in exasperation with me and showing ME how to send a feed!

"Perhaps if I had been born in the internet age, I too would have found an outlet for my 11-year-old opinions in blogging."

I know that's true in my case.

Way back in the 1930s, when my father was around 11, he actually published a 4-page weekly newspaper that reported the happenings from his neighborhood, and featured, among other contents, an editorial in which he spoke his opinions on whatever perked his interest.

Since my grandmother happened to be a small-town newspaper publisher, he had access to a printing press, and a decent distribution channel. He published for a couple of years, selling each copy for a nickel or so, and actually attracting enough advertising to buy himself a bicycle with the proceeds.

When I heard Dad's stories about his newspaper, I thought that was the coolest thing, and wanted very much to start my own paper so that I could share my own wisdom with the breathlessly waiting public. ;)

However, not having the publishing connection my father did at the same age, my idea never got off the ground.